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Presidential autographs may go for $6K

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Early estimates of signed pictures of past, present and future presidents are at more than $6,000 apiece.
AP Photo

“One of the things that they did with it was they made it so it could be reproduced, like a lithograph,” said Jenny Mandel, an archivist at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Library.

An 8x10 autographed image that recently came up for auction was accompanied by a letter from Ford explaining that he couldn’t autograph an unsigned copy of the photograph someone had sent him.

The signed photographs from 1991 were worth $5,000 apiece at the time – at 100 photos each, a president was poised to make $1.5 million. Today they’re worth slightly more, about $6,000.

Restricting the number of copies is what drives up the price of the photographs and instantly turns them into valued collectors’ items.

“300 copies is nothing compared to the population of the country, even the collecting population,” Hoskin said. “It’s enough to have a nice demand initially. But after that, after that supply is gone, they’d be traded on the collectors market.”

As ghoulish as it may sound, the harsh truth is that these photographs won’t sell for top dollar until all the presidents pictured in them are dead. Generally as long as a person is still alive and signing autographs, collectors won’t pay a premium.

Autographs of John F. Kennedy and Dwight Eisenhower, Hoskin points out, are the highest sellers among presidents.

Gerald Rafshoon, a former Carter spokesman, said it’s his understanding that arranging for the presidents to sign photographs for each other on the rare occasion when all of them get together is “something that the White House has set up, and they did then and did now.”

“The tradition that doesn’t happen very often,” said Rafshoon. “It’s a very valuable thing.”

I would rather pay bills or save for my kids college. Autographs are such a waste of money. -JFKliar ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Like you have any money! What a clown!

RADICALIRAY I HAVE ENOUGH $ IN THE BANK TO BUY 10 AUTOGRAPHS. SINCE I AM NOT STUPID I WILL KEEP MY MONEY AND INVEST IN SOME NOW CHEAP REAL ESTATE. THAT' SMART. BEING A LOSER LIKE YOU I CAN UNDERSTAND WHY YOU ATTACK.

I have 3 Obama autographs and one picture of him and me. They are my treasured possessions now. Also have Bill and Hillary's autograph along with a pic of Hill and me. A pic and autograph of Biden and me. One of the best summers I ever had. They were caucusing in Iowa.